


The Sketchbook

by Niceven (Nicevensilace)



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Cute, Domestic Fluff, Domestic Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter, Drawing, Fluff, Hannibal Lecter Loves Will Graham, Hannibal and Will have a dog, Hannigram Reverse Bang 2019, M/M, Murder Husbands, Post-Fall (Hannibal)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2020-07-12 07:38:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19942573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nicevensilace/pseuds/Niceven
Summary: Will Graham was beautiful, there was no doubt in Hannibal’s mind about it. Watching Will doing the most mundane of tasks; be it setting the table for a meal, or playing on the floor in the den with their Shih Tzu, Rocket, his beauty outshone everything else in the room. Most days Hannibal was content to just watch as Will went about his daily routine, making sure to place certain scenes into his memory palace to be revisited again. Other times, when Will was out on their boat fishing or working on a motor for one of the local villagers, Hannibal would pull out his sketchpad and glance at the details he had managed to capture of the man he was so deeply in love with.





	The Sketchbook

**Author's Note:**

> Art by the lovely [ midnightferret](https://https://archiveofourown.org/users/midnightferret/profile) The artwork that inspired this fic can be found [Here](https://mferret9.tumblr.com/post/186497973026/hannigram-reverse-bang-2019)
> 
> quickly Beta'd by the amazing [Strats](https://archiveofourown.org/users/stratumgermanitivum/pseuds/stratumgermanitivum)

Will Graham was beautiful, there was no doubt in Hannibal’s mind about it. Watching Will doing the most mundane of tasks; be it setting the table for a meal, or playing on the floor in the den with their Shih Tzu, Rocket, his beauty outshone everything else in the room. Most days Hannibal was content to just watch as Will went about his daily routine, making sure to place certain scenes into his memory palace to be revisited again. Other times, when Will was out on their boat fishing or working on a motor for one of the local villagers, Hannibal would pull out his sketchpad and glance at the details he had managed to capture of the man he was so deeply in love with. Today was one of the latter days. WIll had left that morning with a warm smile and a wave explaining he would be back in the early afternoon, hopefully with a good enough catch for dinner.

Hannibal, who had the day off from the local museum where he was in charge of booking and overseeing new exhibits, took to the den, Rocket happily following and going straight to the bed set up for him, content to spend the morning napping.

Hannibal watched the little dog with a smile before pulling down one of his sketchbooks from the shelves and sitting in his usual space. Once settled he opened the sketchbook, smiling as his eyes caught the beauty of his beloved on every page, remembering how he had felt when he was compelled to capture the moment of each scene, glance, expression. All of them full of love and adoration. Even the one drawing that depicted Will shirtless and covered in engine oil and mud from having to chase Rocket across the muddy field after the little dog had taken off with one of his tools. 

Hannibal hummed in delight as he recalled the memory; the sight of the muscles in Will’s back flexing as he moved across the muddy field had captivated him, and he had set out immediately to draw it. Of course afterward, he was less than pleased to find that both of the muddy perpetrators had tracked mud into the house and stained one of his more expensive rugs. Will had smiled guilty and kissed him silly in order to try and distract from the damage, it had worked much to his chagrin, and there were still paw print shaped stains now artfully concealed under a decorative table.

Hannibal continued to look through his sketchbook, paying attention to every detail he had captured and placed within its contents and recalling each and every moment for the picture on the pages. The morning had shifted to afternoon and he began to contemplate what to make himself for lunch by the time he turned to the page with the most recent drawing. Will on the page was reclined in his overstuffed chair (that Hannibal was only sure Will claimed to love because it irritated him to no end that it matched nothing else in the room) Rocket on his lap, a glass of wine in his right hand and the look of utter contentment on his relaxed and happy face. Will had smiled indulgently at him when he had stood and retrieved his pencils and book to draw him but never said a word to stop him. He continued to pet the small dog and would take occasional sips from his glass as they sat together that evening, speaking about their upcoming trip to the opera and dinner party the following week. 

Hannibal frowned slightly recalling the date of the portrait, that evening at been almost a month ago, far too long to not have a new drawing of his beloved. With a hum he closed the book and set it aside before standing to head to the kitchen to prepare lunch, he would have to remedy the situation soon. 

“Come petite fusée, let us get something to eat.” He called to Rocket and smiled as the little dog let out a small bark in return before bounding after him. 

Lunch for himself consisted of light and easy fair; a pan-seared loin atop a simple salad consisting of local greens and vegetables that he and Will had grown themselves in their garden. For Rocket homemade food that Will had prepared the day before, and if Hannibal had ‘accidentally’ dropped pieces of loin on the floor for their little furry companion who would know? Will wasn’t here to scold and say that he was spoiling him, though it was always said with a fond smile and a shake of his head. 

Hannibal ate on out on the veranda, the large patio umbrella shading him from the worst of the afternoon sun. As he ate he gazed out at the perfect view of the ocean, occasionally spotting a boat or two in passing. The view and proximity to the sea had been one of the main selling points of picking this location as a place to settle. He and Will had decided, after spending almost a year in Argentina while they recovered and the public and FBI lost interest in them, to move to Europe. They had decided on France, and while Hannibal had greatly wanted to live once again in Paris but it would have been too great a risk given his history with the city and decided on the coastal city of Saint-Tropez in the French Riviera. While the cities economy relied on tourism for income, it was a much smaller destination than Nice and most tourists tended to be from other European countries. The fact that Saint-Tropez was a coastal city and had a small museum, where Hannibal was currently employed, had been a plus. 

After they had decided on their future home, after much searching, and several heated conversations about what each of them deemed necessities, they purchased it via realtor over the phone and internet. He and Will packed their few possessions they had acquired during the stay in Argentina and loaded everything on to their newly acquired boat. They set sail for their new home a week after it had been purchased, Will had told him about his sailing to Italy to find him the first time, and Hannibal was determined to make this trip a happier one for his love. 

It turned out that spending weeks confined within a cramped boat was less than ideal for either of them, but they had managed to finally arrive at their destination mostly unscathed. They had stayed fairly close to the coast of South America before they finally crossed the Atlantic from their last port stop in Caracas. It had been on their cross-Atlantic trip that Hannibal had begun to sketch Will. There were many hours that they spent on the deck that Hannibal would quietly sit and sketch as Will would move about their ship, completing tasks and steering or fishing. Hannibal would marvel at the beauty that was his companion each time the sunlight would glimmer off the ocean water and shine upon Will’s skin, his hair and his eyes. It was magnificent. 

There were moments where they tested each other's patience during the crossing, but for the most part, their transatlantic trip was easy. When they finally made port in Saint Tropez Hannibal had been pleased with the rustic charm that the coastal city offered, and he could see that Will was just as happy with their choice. 

Once they were settled in their new home, Will’s first endeavor had been to adopt their lovely little Rocket. Hannibal had to admit that having the little dog in their lives brought joy. Seeing the way Will would light up when Rocket would come running to his call was divine. There were several pages in his sketchbook now devoted to Will holding and playing with the little dog. Hannibal smiled to himself and glanced over at the little dog who had curled up in his little outdoor bed. He had not expected to develop emotions for the small creature but he found himself enjoying its company, even when Will was away. Thanking about Will, Hannibal checked his watch and frowned lightly to see that it was still early afternoon and Will would, most likely, not be returning for a few more hours. With a sigh, he stood and collected his plate and returned to the kitchen to clean up the mess from lunch. 

Around three in the afternoon, after spending some time reading and researching exhibits for the museum, he stood from his desk and stretched. His body, he found, was not as young and resilient as it used to be, especially after the fall. He often found himself stiff from sitting too long and had aches in places that he never had before, more so, his right hip, after having it break on impact after WIll had pushed them over the cliff. He found himself more often than not, walking with a slight limp, but there were worse things. They could have easily not survived or both of them could have perished from their wounds and the infections that had set in afterward. But they were both fighters and determined to survive. 

The weather was nice and both Rocket and himself were due for some exercise so he decided to take their petite fusée for a walk down to the dock and hopefully be there to greet Will when he returned to shore. 

“Come, Rocket, let’s go for a walk.” He said as he headed towards the front door and retrieved the lead from the entryway table. 

After putting on a pair of shoes and attaching the lead to Rocket’s collar they left the house and began the walk down to the marina in town. Hannibal was thankful for Will’s diligent training of their small dog, he never pulled or tried to wander when they walked, and it was only because of the leash laws that they used a lead at all. Rocket knew not to wander far from his humans and even if he did need a casual reminder of his training, he was a very polite little dog. They walked down the road and into town, passing a few of their neighbors and other locals as they too made their way into town to do their evening shopping or greet the sailors as they come into port for the day.

There were several groups of tourists that clustered together along the road, chatting amongst themselves and enjoying the beauty and sites of the old city. The tourists, for the most part, stayed close to the resorts, hotels and the beachfront, and while he occasionally had to give tours at the museum, no one so far had recognized him, though it wouldn’t be a problem if anyone had. He had Will had come up with a plan to make anyone who recognized them, disappear. Hannibal had purchased the properties next to their home and one of them was an empty lot that they had turned into their large garden. The other had a small house with a basement that he and Will had dug out further and converted into a workshop for their, extra-curricular hobbies. The upper part of the house they had also stripped and refurbished to be a studio that they both used to store different items. Will currently had two boat motors in there, one which was taken apart to be fixed. 

So far they had only used their basement workshop four times. Twice had been because of a rude tourist, one time a local who had purposely destroyed part of their garden after a disagreement, and the last had been a child molester from a neighboring town who had happened to escape police custody and appeared in the market looking to steal some food. They were both sure that nobody missed him. They tended to keep their kills sparse, they enjoyed their life here and did not want to jeopardize it. 

Hannibal waved and smiled at the few people who called out their hellos to him as they passed through the market. He stopped at a few stalls and purchased some bread and a few other items they were running low on. He was thankful to have grabbed the cloth tote bag that had been under Rocket’s lead before they had left the house so he did not have to worry about how to carry everything. Rocket enjoyed the attention that he received from all of the local children and most of the market stalls kept treats for him which, since Will was not with them, Hannibal was able to let Rocket happily eat. 

“We won’t mention all of the treats you have had today will we, petite fusée?” Hannibal said with a smile as the little dog devoured the treat from the last stall. 

They continued on their walk at a leisurely pace through the rest of the town until they made it to the marina. Hannibal smiled at the prospect of seeing his beloved, he wasn't sure if Will had returned yet but he was happy to wait at their designated dock until he did. He and Rocket walked passed the commercial docks, where fishermen who had returned with their catch were unloading their wares to sell to the local restaurants and merchants for the evening. There were still several docks empty but ships were steadily making their way inland for the day. 

The closer then neared to their dock, the more excited Rocket became, perking his ears and letting out a short yip, knowing that he would be seeing his other human soon. Hannibal smiled down at the little dog, he agreed with his canine companion, he too was excited at the prospect of seeing Will soon. They rounded the corner of their larger yacht that they had crossed the in and Hannibal was pleasantly surprised to see Will’s smaller fishing boat docked. He bent down to pick up Rocket and gestured to keep quiet before they approached the vessel. As Hannibal prepared to climb aboard the boat he heard the dulcet tones of Will singing to himself. WIll must have been cleaning the days catch since he only ever seemed to sing when he was alone and cleaning or working on something mechanical. One of these days Hannibal was determined to get Will to sing for him instead of sneaking around the outside of Will’s workshop in the hopes of hearing a song. He was pretty sure that Will was aware of his presence, they both had always been able to sense the other but Will continued to sing, seemingly ignoring him. Hannibal walked to the stern of the boat and stood and watched as Will scaled fish, and swayed slightly as he sang. He cursed himself for not having his sketchbook and pencils, yet again confirming to himself that he needed to sketch his beloved soon. 

“I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay, wastin' time,” Will finished his song and glanced over his shoulder to stare straight at him. “Hello, Hannibal.” He smiled before turning back to place the sharp knife he was holding down and picking up a rag to wipe his hands. “How long were you standing there?” He asked as he turned around and walked towards Hannibal and Rocket.

“Not long, we only caught the end of Ottis Redding.” Will shot him a dubious look making him chuckle. “There is no need to fret my love, your attempts to keep me from hearing your lovely singing voice are still fruitful.”

“Oh, they are huh? I somehow doubt that if you caught me just now. “ Will smiled as he scratched under Rockets chin, causing the little dog to wiggle with the force of his wagging tail causing Hannibal to set him down. 

“Pure luck, I assure you. I see you managed to catch our dinner.”

“That I did. I caught several good size fish, we should be able to get a couple of meals from this haul,” Will explained as he walked back to the cleaning station sand packed the fish in the cooler he had brought with him that morning. “Tell me did you come all the way down here just to see me? Did you miss me that much? I was only out for a few hours.”

“You and I are conjoined, as you once said, I feel your absence acutely, even if it is for a short time, and Rocket missed you as well. I felt it would be nice to stretch our legs and come down and greet you.” 

Will smiled widely and looked down at Rocket. “Did you miss me too buddy?” Rocket barked and jumped up on his back legs in excitement and preened for pets,.Will knelt down and gave the Rocket the attention he craved. Hannibal watched the interaction fondly before he bent down and retrieved the cooler from where Will had set it on the deck. 

“Shall we return home?” 

Will gave one last scratch behind Rocket’s ears and stood. “Yeah let’s head home.” 

Their evening was spent cooking and enjoying each others company. After a light dinner consisting of the fish Will caught and asparagus with a light white wine sauce, they sat out on the patio and enjoyed the fresh evening air and watched as the sky slowly began to darken. Hannibal had poured them both a glass of wine before they had retreated to the patio, they had both quietly sipping from their glasses as Rocket sniffed at the flowers along the patio’s edge. 

“So what did you do today before you and Rocket decided to come and greet me in town?” Will asked inquiringly before setting his wine glass on the table.

“Nothing terribly strenuous, I researched and made some calls about a possible new exhibit for the museum. Clothing and household items from German aristocracy, which I think our patrons might enjoy.” Hannibal explained lightly as he set his glass on the table. “Rocket and I also enjoyed some time out here during our lunch, didn’t we ma petite fusée?” He said to the little dog who yipped in return at being addressed before returning to his investigation of the flowers. 

“It sounds that you had a productive day at least, and I’m sure you and all of the market stall owners didn’t overindulge Rocket with treats and food he isn't supposed to have, did you?” Will smirked.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Hannibal replied as he picked up his glass and took another sip

Will chuckled and rolled his eyes at his husband. “I’m sure you don’t. You spoil him too much, he is going to get fat and his little body can’t handle that extra weight.”

“That just means we will need to take him on more walks to prevent that from happening.”

“Or you could stop feeding him food from your plate, and don’t pretend like I’m not aware that you do it,” Will said exasperatedly 

“Again, I'm not sure what you are referring to Will. I only ever give Rocket a small designated treat.”

“You are a terrible liar.” 

Hannibal sighed and put his now empty glass on the table, “Fine, I will cease giving Rocket treats and food when it is not his mealtime.” he conceded. 

Will nodded his head in agreement. “Good, and thank you. I know you enjoy spoiling him, but I promise he is very much aware that you like him, you don’t have to give him treats to prove it.” 

  
“If you insist Will. I will have to suffice with belly rubs and praise for our little canine then.”

“Oh don’t pout, you know you love petting and praising him,” Will exclaimed with a smile before calling Rocket over to him “Isn’t that right Rocket? You love getting pets from Hannibal, don’t you?”

Rocket barked excitedly and pranced around Will’s legs before racing under the table to Hannibal’s side for more pets. Will and Hannibal both chuckled at the dog's antics and Hannibal leaned down and scooped the little dog up before placing him on his lap.

“Hmm, I suppose you are correct about him gaining weight. Sorry mon petit Chien, no more treats for you.” 

Rocket didn’t seem to mind and happily maneuvered so that Hannibal would scratch his ears. 

“How was your day out on the boat?” Hannibal asked after a few minutes had gone by and the light was becoming dim around them.

“Besides successful? It was mostly uneventful, I did have to yell at some stupid kids this morning about messing around with some of the local fisherman's lobster traps. Apparently, they didn’t think they would get caught and played dumb, pretending that they had no idea they weren’t supposed to poach on people’s traps.” Will shook his head and slouched down in his chair 

“I assume they were not local and appreciated being told otherwise?”

“For the most part yeah. They looked like some rich college frat boys here on holiday, only one of them gave me any real lip. Pretty sure that kid isn't used to being told no. They headed back inland pretty quick after I caught them and I anchored by the traps until Louis came to check on them in case the idiots decided to come back.” Will shrugged and reached for his glass and down the rest of its contents. “After that, I moved out to my fishing spot then came back in after I caught enough. And then you caught me singing, and that is my day.” 

“I did manage to catch a little bit of your singing, for which I am eternally grateful. One day I will convince you to sing for me.”

Will chuckled and pushed himself out of his chair. “Yeah, you keep thinking that. Come on, let’s go to bed.”

“Alright.” Hannibal set Rocket down on the ground before he stood and followed Will into the house. They each went through the house finishing individual tasks before they headed to the master bedroom. Hannibal made a point to stop in the study and grab his sketchbook and one of his scalpel-sharpened pencils from his desk and brought them with him. Just in case.

  


* * *

  


Hannibal was roused from his sleep at the sound of his alarm. It was 5:30 am and the sun was just starting to peek in through the curtains. It was one of the things he appreciated about the summer, rising with the sun. He reached over and shut off his alarm before sitting up and stretching his arms above his head. He glanced over his shoulder and saw that Will was peering at him from just above the covers, only the top of his head visible. 

“Mmm, what time is it?” Will murmured sleepily

“It is 5:30, you can go back to sleep darling,” Hannibal whispered back as he brushed an errant curl away from Will’s face. 

“Mmm, kay” Will closed his eyes and pulled the covers closer around him before falling back asleep. Hannibal smiled fondly and stood, making his way to the bathroom to complete his morning routine. 

By the time Hannibal had finished with his morning shower and dressed in his suit for the day, Will had rolled over onto his back, kicking off the covers in the process, leaving one of his legs hanging off the edge of the bed. Hannibal stood in awe and watched as the sun filtered in and landed on Will’s sleeping figure. He was beautiful. Even when he was drooling onto his pillow, like he currently was, Will was beautiful. 

Hannibal checked his watch and deemed that he had plenty of time. If he stopped at the small coffee shop on the way to the museum for a pastry instead of cooking his breakfast, he would have at least an hour to sit and sketch is love. Determined to not miss the way the light in the room was, he quickly retrieved the armchair from the corner of the room and sat it down closer to the bed, he then hastily grabbed his sketchbook and pencil before he sat. Once he was seated and situated he opened the sketchbook and flipped to the back and started drawing on the first empty page he came across. 

Rocket, who was sleeping on the bench at the foot of the bed, had woken and lifted his head to watch his non-sleeping human move the chair. He deemed Hannibal’s actions uninteresting and laid his head back down with a sleepy, content sigh. Hannibal glanced up from his rough outline, eyes landing on the little dog, and smiled before returning his attention to his work. 

Time passed quickly and soon Hannibal was pulled away from his sketch when Will turned his head and began to snore. Hannibal smiled fondly and checked the time, frowning when he saw that he had worked for more than the allotted hour he had given himself by ten minutes. With an irritated sigh, he checked over his work before closing his sketchbook quietly and standing. He moved the chair back to its original spot before walking around the bed and laying a gentle kiss to Will’s forehead. Will showed no reaction to his husband’s tender show of affection and rolled over onto his side as Hannibal stood back up and left the room. 

Hannibal made a quick detour into the study and placed his sketchbook and pencil on the desk before he headed to the kitchen and retrieved his lunch and leave for the day. He didn’t think that Will would go into the study since most of Will’s days were spent either in his workshop or out tending the garden. Hannibal promptly put his worries from his mind though, it wasn’t as if Will was unaware of his sketches, and focused on getting to the museum on time to open it. 

  


Will was taking a break from the boat motor that was currently in a thousand pieces in his workshop. He had already repaired and replaced the parts that had been broken and cleaned everything else, all that was left was to reassemble it. Any other day he would not have had a problem sitting on the floor doing just that but today he was restless. He had only been able to sit in his workshop after eating his breakfast for about an hour before he felt the need to get up and move. He left his workshop with Rocket trailing behind him and began to pull weeds in the garden. Unfortunately, because of how often he and Hannibal tended to each row of plants and herbs in their garden, there wasn’t a whole lot for him to do. Within 20 minutes he had completed his task and was looking for something else to do. 

Rocket who had been chasing random bugs and an occasional butterfly while Will tended to the weeds, raced over to Will when he called. Will ran the small dog through a series of commands before throwing a faded, ratty tennis ball into the yard away from the plants for Rocket to fetch. Will threw the ball for Rocket until the little dog was exhausted and flopped down on the ground at his feet after dropping the ball. Will chuckled at the overdramatic antics and scooped him up and carried him inside. 

“You know little guy, you are just as dramatic as Hannibal.” Rocket continued to pant, his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth, looking ridiculously cute. “Yep, just like Hannibal. No wonder he likes you so much.”

Once inside Will placed Rocket down next to his water dish before washing his hands. And getting himself a drink. He was still jittery and felt the need to move. Rocket had moved to the nearest dog bed and flopped down into it, so taking him for a walk was out. He would have to make do with wandering around the house. He moved from room to room before he meandered into the study. He perused the bookshelves hoping one of the titles would catch his interest, but having read most of them before, nothing looked interesting. 

Giving up he settled at Hannibal’s desk with a frustrated sigh. His eyes immediately landed on the sketchbook that Hannibal had placed there that morning. Curious to see what it was that Hannibal had been working on, he pulled it closer to him and began to flip through it. He saw familiar scenes from their voyage here and sketches of him and Rocket, all of which he had seen before. If Hannibal honestly thought he was being sneaky about his drawings of Will, he was very much mistaken. Will was nosy and would occasionally flip through the sketchbooks to see what Hannibal had been working on. He flipped to the back of the book and found the page that his husband had been drawing that morning. Will stared at the drawing of himself sleeping, half-naked and sprawled out across his side of the bed and blushed. He looked vulnerable and he had to admit and Hannibal had a way of making him look damn good. The more he looked the more details he noticed: the folds of the covers, the way his curls lay across the pillow. The pillow also seemed to have a weird shadow on it next to his mouth.

“What the? Is that drool? Did he seriously draw me drooling?” Will grumbled incredulously. Grabbing a scrap piece of paper and scribbling something on it and placing it on the page before shutting the book. With a huff, he pushed the book back to where it had been placed and got up and left the study. He would deal with that later. 

Hannibal returned home to an empty house and a note on the kitchen counter from Will, explaining that he and Rocket had gone for a walk and would be back for dinner. Hannibal hummed lightly in satisfaction that he would have a chance to put the final touches on his drawing from that morning without interruption. Once settled at his desk he opened the sketchbook to the correct page and found a note on top of his drawing written in Will’s tidy scrawl. 

This is lovely as always Hannibal but

I DO NOT DROOL!

-Will

Hannibal chuckled and placed the note to the side; he was going to have to think of something to make for dinner to appease his grumpy husband.


End file.
